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Exploring Criminal Justice in British Columbia* Rick Ruddell, University of Regina, and Krystal Glowatski, Simon Fraser University

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Exploring Criminal Justice in British Columbia* Rick Ruddell, University of Regina, and Krystal Glowatski, Simon Fraser University Exploring Criminal Justice in British Columbia* Rick Ruddell, University of Regina, and Krystal Glowatski, Simon Fraser University This supplement to Exploring Criminal Justice in Canada provides additional content about crime and the responses of the police, courts, and corrections that is specific to British Columbia, including issues related to urban and rural crime and innovative crime control strategies being developed in the province, such as predictive policing. The summary ends with a review of a number of criminal cases that drew the world’s attention, such as the murder of Reena Virk and the missing women on Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway), which has become known as the Highway of Tears. Altogether, these cases, events, and informa- tion specific to the province of British Columbia enable readers to better understand the provincial context that can’t be covered in a textbook that focuses on the entire nation. 4.0 3.8 BRITISH COLUMBIA: CRIME AT A GLANCE 3.6 3.5 Of the 10 provinces, BC falls within the mid-range of rates 3.2 of reported crime and victimization. British Columbians are 3.0 less likely to be victimized than those living in the three Prai- 2.5 2.0 rie Provinces, although rates of violent and property crime 2.0 in BC are somewhat higher than those reported in Ontario 1.5 and Quebec. Like the rest of Canada, rates of crime reported 1.5 1.3 1.3 to the police have been dropping since the 1990s and the rate 1.0 0.9 0.7 of offences per 100,000 residents reported to the police in BC 0.6 0.5 is lower today than rates in the 1970s. Perreault (2015, p. 7) found the proportion of British Columbia residents who re- 0.0 ported being victims of violent crimes dropped by 35 per cent NL PEINSNBQCONMBSKABBC between 2004 and 2014. Moreover, the rate of youth accused FIGURE 1 Provincial Homicide Rates (per 100,000 residents), 2015 of crime in BC is the lowest in the nation. Lower crime rates Source: Adapted from CANSIM Table 252-0051. impact the entire justice system: fewer cases are being heard in BC courts, and the youth incarceration rate dropped by firearms offences (Allen, 2016). Of the largest BC cities, Allen three-quarters between 2001 and 2015. found that the murder rate per 100,000 residents was highest While Exploring Criminal Justice described the inter- in Victoria (2.19), which was followed by Vancouver (1.88), provincial differences in the Crime Severity Index CSI( ), the Abbotsford-Mission (1.63), and Kelowna (1.53). following figures show differences in homicide, drug crime, Some of these homicides are related to gang activities. Be- and youth crime, as well as rates of reported crime in the tween 2012 and 2014, of the 231 British Columbia homicides, largest cities. Figure 1 shows the homicide rate per 100,000 65 of these murders, or 28 per cent, were classified as gang- residents for 2015 and the BC rate of 2.0 is slightly higher related. This was quite a bit higher than the overall Canadian than the national average of 1.68 per 100,000 residents. With average of 17.8 per cent for the same three years (see CANSIM respect to homicides, while six provinces and territories had Table 253-0008). The media has reported that the number of lower levels of murder in 2014 than in 2013, the rate in British shootings in the Lower Mainland has increased through- Columbia increased by 15 per cent in 2014 (Miladinovic & out 2015 and 2016. Crime statistics published by the Royal Mulligan, 2015). In 2015, the homicide rate grew by another Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey show that while 6 per cent, as 95 British Columbians were murdered that there has been an increased number of attempted murders year (Allen, 2016). Although it is common for homicide rates (up 211 per cent), the number of murders actually decreased to fluctuate slightly each year, that is a substantial increase by 40 per cent in 2015 (RCMP, 2016). for two years. There was a 7 per cent increase in the violent A report published in Maclean’s magazine highlights the CSI for the province of BC during 2015, driven by an in- large number of shootings that occurred in Surrey through- creased number of robberies, attempted murders, and violent out 2015 and 2016, and these offences are likely to occur *The ten provincial summaries follow a common template and although the examples presented in this supplement differ from the other nine, some of the content is very similar or will have identical text. Exploring Criminal Justice in British Columbia “when two groups of low-level gangs engaged in another turf interesting to see the impact of this change on drug crimes war over the city’s drug trade” (Macdonald, 2016). Although and whether this change will reduce the number of gang con- Surrey deployed an additional 100 Mounties to respond flicts, such as the ones occurring in Surrey. to these shootings, Simon Fraser University criminologist The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered In- Robert Gordon doubts that they will have much immediate digenous Women and Girls, initiated in 2016, has brought re- impact given that these turf wars involve “conflicts between newed attention to the issue of violence towards women. For groups trying to gain control over the illegal drug trade” (as example, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada (2016) cited in Macdonald, 2016). called family violence a serious public issue and reports that Allen (2016, p. 7) reports that the CSI in Canada increased more than 200 men and women are victimized every day by 5 per cent between 2014 and 2015 while the BC increase and a woman is killed by a family member every four days was 4 per cent. The offences that drove the changing CSI in Canada. With respect to family violence, risks of victim- were fraud, theft of $5,000 or under, and robbery. Figure 2 ization increase for women, Indigenous women, people with presents the crime rates for the 10 largest British Colum- disabilities, and those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, bia cities for 2015, and this figure shows considerable varia- trans, or questioning; in other words, some people experience tion in the amount of crime occurring within the province: a number of risk factors simultaneously (Chief Public Health Abbotsford, for example, has just over one-half as much Officer of Canada, 2016, p. 6). The findings of self-report- sur police-reported crime as Victoria. One question that crim- veys show that most incidents of family violence are never re- inologists like to ask is why crime differs so much between ported to the police, for a number of personal, relational, and these places. psychological reasons. According to the 2014 General Social There are some offences for which the province of Brit- Survey (GSS) “4 per cent of Canadians in the provinces with ish Columbia is a leader, including violations of the Con- a current or former spouse or common-law partner reported trolled Drugs and Substances Act. Cotter, Greenland, and having been physically or sexually abused by their spouse Karam (2015, p. 9) note that “Since 1982, British Columbia during the preceding 5 years” (Canadian Centre for Justice has reported the highest rate of drug-related crime among Statistics, 2016, p. 3). Rates of family violence tend to be fairly the provinces each year, with the exception of 2012, where close to the violent crime rate within a province and Figure 4 Saskatchewan reported a slightly higher rate [see Figure 3]. shows that self-reported victimization in BC is higher than Cannabis accounted for about two-thirds (69 per cent) of all the national average, but less than three provinces in Atlantic police-reported drug offences in British Columbia in 2013.” Canada or in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Those researchers found that BC led the nation in terms of There is also increased attention being paid to the issue violations pertaining to the possession or use of cannabis of sexual violence since the trial and acquittal in 2016 of and crystal meth. In terms of Canada’s largest cities, Cotter, Jian Ghomeshi, the CBC broadcaster. The Ghomeshi trial Greenland, and Karam (2015, p. 10) report Kelowna leads the further highlighted issues related to reporting sexual as- nation in terms of violations, followed by Vancouver, Gati- sault, such as when reports are made to the police and re- neau, Regina, Abbotsford-Mission, and Victoria. As the legis- victimization. As noted in Exploring Criminal Justice sexual lation to legalize marijuana will be in place in 2017, it will be offences are among the least reported crimes. Perreault 14,000 12,369 12,000 11,081 700 11,010 10,484 10,826 10,000 600 576 8,282 500 490 8,000 7,058 6,759 6,746 6,599 6,000 400 325 285 297 4,000 300 273 277 235 232 2,000 200 183 0 100 0 Surrey Victoria Burnaby KelownaNanaimo NL PEI NS NB QC ON MB SK AB BC CoquitlamKamloops Abbotsford Richmond Vancouver FIGURE 3 Violations of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (rate per FIGURE 2 Total Crime Rate per 100,000 Residents, Largest BC Cities, 2015 100,000 residents), 2013 Source: Adapted from CANSIM Table 252-0081. Source: Adapted from Cotter, Greenland, and Karam (2015). 2 Exploring Criminal Justice in British Columbia 6.0 14,000 13,084 5.5 5.3 4.9 12,000 5.0 4.7 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.2 10,000 4.0 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.3 8,000 7,798 3.0 6,020 2.5 6,000 5,380 2.1 4,710 5,030 2.0 4,000 3,459 3,456 1.5 3,295 3,071 1.0 2,000 0.5 0.0 0 NL PEI NS NB QC ON MB SK AB BC NL PEI NS NB QC ON MB SK AB BC FIGURE 4 Victims of Self-Reported Spousal Violence in the Past FIGURE 5 Youth Crime Rate (per 100,000 residents) by Province, 2014 Five Years (per cent), 2014 Source: Adapted from Allen and Superle (2016).
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